With the addition of Hikari and Raiden's group, the number of Heroes and Transcendents resting and hiding inside the Green-marked zone went up to twenty-one.
Seven groups were trapped or chose to escape the encirclement of the Automatons that was too much for them.
At first most of them thought that since Daisuke described their enemies to be robots, it would be an easy exploration wherein they could get advanced technology devices that could aid them in their Pathways' progress. However, when they finally encountered a group of Automatons, they found out that robots they thought were scrap metals were almost invulnerable.
Unless they found out their weakness – which they failed to do so – they couldn't do anything against them and just waste their Source Energy that was being restricted by the place.
"Hikari, you're the one closest to Daisuke. And you're possibly the strongest among us here. Didn't he say anything about the Automatons' weakness?" One of the heroes from their class asked Hikari who was sitting on a chair deep in contemplation.
She did get some pointers from Daisuke but… it's not enough to truly guide all of these Heroes whose strengths only range from early Rank 1 Transcendent to late Rank 1 Transcendent.
Her copied Domain of Valor could only raise their UPL for a few tens and the more people were buffed by it, the more drain she would receive from her Source Energy. She also could use one of Daisuke's Skills through the Shared Growth, but what she got from him was the Energy Drain which could siphon Source Energy from her enemies. That way she could last longer upon using her copied buff skills of Daisuke.
However, against the Automatons, that Skill was useless!
Due to that, she fell into contemplation on how to get them out of this predicament.
Daisuke's goal was to get the World Zone Navigator while the other group's goal was to only explore the place and find something for themselves.
They could actually stay here and wait until the exploration time ended which, according to Daisuke, would last for three days at most. After three days, the Automatons would be disabled and everyone would be teleported out of Atlantis.
"Their weakness. Inside their bodies, there should be a transceiver that's receiving commands from the Processing Unit. If you rocked it well enough, they would be disabled for at most fifteen minutes."
Hikari answered with the information he heard from Daisuke. He told her to move towards the Demonstration room but upon looking at the map and seeing where they were located, it's impossible to get there without passing through Orange and Red-marked Zones.
"Transceiver… Where are they located?"
"Usually on the head but there were special cases where the transceiver was hidden inside an Automaton's body." Hikari gestured to her temple to show them where it was usually located.
After that, she went back to contemplating what to do. Raiden and the others in her group were waiting for her to come up with something.
Although all of them could be said to have brilliant minds to think of something, most of them lacked the information needed.
"Uhm. If I may say something… Isn't it better for us to move together? Instead of going by the group of three, all of us here can become a huge army that will not be outnumbered or overwhelmed by the enemies." This time, a Transcendent from a Mortal World gave his suggestion. He's Rael, one of the Luxian Transcendents who followed the Great Protector Daisuke and their Supreme Pontiff Sofiel to this world.
He's already accustomed to the culture of this world so… he could now talk freely with these young heroes. He even joined a group consisting of two Heroes.
Unfortunately, the two weren't in the Support List of Daisuke.
Moreover, he still felt somewhat inferior because of his lack of or slow progress in his Pathway.
Until now, he hadn't gotten a glimpse of his Transcendent Pathway.
That's the reason why he joined this exploration, to test his luck by accumulating more experience in hopes of glimpsing into his Transcendent Pathway. He even underwent Baptism but all it did was enhance his UPL for a bit.
"What about the distribution of loot? If we find something of value, who will be able to get it?" One foreign Heroine who hailed from China asked. She's wearing a qipao and the weapon in her hand was a green long spear with dragon carvings on its body.
She's actually a Hero from a Mortal World that summoned multiple Heroes. The ones in her group are Heroes from the same Special Class as Daisuke.
"You're a Hero, Linmei. We're Heroes. Why are you talking about loots? Have you forgotten the blessings you received from the world you were summoned into? We reached this point not because we're greedy but because we believed in our mission to save the world." Hiroda retorted. Although he was somewhat overwhelmed when he saw Daisuke sitting on the throne of the enemy kingdom back in that Mortal World where he was summoned, he's a diligent Hero who did his best to save that world without waiting for anything in return even after being summoned abruptly just like that time during the Entrance Ceremony.
"Heh… Save the world. Didn't Daisuke and his women end up saving the world you were summoned into? All you did was stall for time to wait for him. And what about our world? People are still dying there but he didn't have any motivation to go there anymore. Is it because we're not from the same country as you?" Another foreign Hero blurted, his grievance oozing out from his depressed face.
He's here because he wasn't summoned back again to the world that was teeming with Invaders. Since it's only three days, he thought that he might get a power-up here that would help him save that Mortal World. But being stuck here after failing to defeat any of the Automatons, his mind leaned onto becoming pessimistic of his chances.
"Can you all be quiet? I'm thinking here. Did anyone bring a map of this place?"
"What do you have in mind, Hikari?"
"Simple. Like Rael said, we're going to team up. And not just us, we're going to find every group and absorb them. As for loots. Don't you worry about that. Didn't Daisuke say that this is training for us? If you can't find any after three days, he'll give you something. We're leaving Earth and all of you will be facing those Invasive Worlds that will try to conquer Earth or the other Mortal Worlds connected to Earth, he won't neglect anyone. Remember, he's a previous Divine Realm expert."
Hikari declared.
However, some of what she said were lies. Daisuke never said about rewarding them. He wanted them to find their fortunes in here. But with most of the people here losing hope, she needed to reignite their fighting spirit. That way, she can use them fully for that plan she ended up adopting.
After saying that, Daisuke's voice coincidentally entered her mind. "Hikari, I received your message. I guess I miscalculated. Listen, one of their definite weaknesses is Physical Attacks. That's all. Take care of yourself there. We'll be moving towards the World Zone Navigator soon, take your time to train them."
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